Recommended by Michael Barr
In one of Delawareâs antique stores I recently stumbled on a lived-in copy of Herbert Readâs âThe Meaning of Artâ that seemed worth my $1.25. Read, who was a Fine Arts scholar in the first half of the 20th century touches on various movements, elements, and figures in a way that isnât daunting for those who, like myself, arenât quite proficient in its language. He does so by disregarding the idea that a historical work should be purely factual, stepping in every so often with his own, now humorously dated but nonetheless incisive language that thinks about the Surrealists as those in pursuit of capturing how âa human being drifts through time like an iceberg.â His eloquent style makes abstraction approachable by highlighting how artistry reverberates far beyond its common conception, into a myriad of making or doing processes. Whenever I discover a link between various forms of the arts and humanities Iâm struck with the realization of how little I know, though in this case, I am given a roadmap with greater detail, and a well-worn cover.